Blooming Garden & Home

Blooming Garden & Home Ecological garden consulting & design | Native plants, conservation & education | Purposeful spaces for people & nature | Brookfield, WI | Zone 5B

Hi, I’m Natalie Lester! A garden coach, educator, and designer based in Brookfield, WI (Zone 5b). I help gardeners of all levels create sustainable, beautiful spaces using native plants and functional design. Through Blooming Garden & Home, I offer personalized coaching, landscape design, indoor plant styling, and botanical art. I’m passionate about ecology, creativity, and helping others grow with confidence and purpose.

08/31/2026

It was such a beautiful walk around Firefly Grove Park in Wauwatosa. Today was actually our first visit to this gem, and I’m already wondering why we waited so long!

This little park has so much to offer. I especially loved their focus on creating sustainable habitats and all of the native plants throughout the park.

Thomas Dambo’s troll, Mama Rosa, was quite the site to see, he made her completely out of recycled materials. She has such a lovely park to look over, especially this time of year!

A little reminder that sometimes the best places to explore are right in your own backyard.

Have you been to Firefly Grove Park yet?

08/28/2026

Dahlia gardeners know one organza bag is never one organza bag.

Organza bags are an easy way to protect dahlia blooms from pests while they’re developing, helping keep cut flowers looking fresh and damage free.

They let light and air through while creating a simple barrier against unwanted visitors.

And somehow, every time you cover one bud, you notice dozens more that need a bag.

08/26/2026

I’ve been looking at the foliage in my garden a little differently lately.

I’m used to working with dried and pressed plants, but this time I wanted to explore what would happen if I stamped fresh foliage directly into ink.

The results surprised me. Each leaf held the ink differently, revealing its own textures, shapes, and character. Some impressions were bold, some delicate, and all of them beautifully unpredictable.

Using cold press watercolor paper, I created a small botanical record of my shade garden, capturing the essence of our short, fleeting Wisconsin summers in ink.

What plant from your garden would you love to see printed on paper?

Which dahlia bed had a groundhog tunneling problem?All three beds look healthy.But one of them has a problem hiding unde...
08/25/2026

Which dahlia bed had a groundhog tunneling problem?

All three beds look healthy.
But one of them has a problem hiding underground.
A, B, or C?

If you guessed C, you’re right. So much open soil where my gorgeous dahlias used to be!

The dahlias were growing beautifully, and then a groundhog moved in and started tunneling through the bed. My fanciest unicorn dahlias took the hit.

This is one of the frustrating realities of gardening. You can do everything right, have healthy plants, and still have wildlife completely change your plans.

Living behind a park has plenty of perks, but sometimes the wildlife decides your garden belongs to them too.

Have you ever had a groundhog, rabbit, deer, vole, or other garden visitor completely derail a season?

Tell me what happened.

08/23/2026

I was just trying to film my pressed fern ink and watercolor prints when a group of wild turkeys decided they needed attention. I love living behind Wirth Park!

This is the reality of making botanical art outdoors. You can carefully press plants, build layers of ink and watercolor, and obsess over every detail…
Then wildlife walks through your shot.

08/21/2026

Mid August garden chaos = habitat.

The spent bee balm, seed heads, and unruly growth are still doing important work.

They provide food, shelter, nesting material and overwintering habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. A garden designed for nature will not always look tidy. And that is the point.

Before you cut everything back, ask yourself: Is this plant finished, or is wildlife still using it?

Leave a little more. Let some things go to seed. Make room for the life your garden was planted to support.

Save this reminder for your next garden cleanup.

Gardeners know what “just a few” means.Apparently, it means fill your shirt, because I’m only making one trip! These Ami...
08/21/2026

Gardeners know what “just a few” means.

Apparently, it means fill your shirt, because I’m only making one trip!

These Amish Paste tomatoes are one of Wisconsin’s own heirlooms. They were cultivated in the 1870s in Middleton, WI. This indeterminate variety produces large fruits with a sweet, rich flavor and fewer seeds than typical tomatoes, making them ideal for sauces and canning.

Grow notes: This is my third season growing Amish Paste from seed, and they handle the heat better than any other tomato variety I’ve grown. I’ve had far less cracking during the hot and humid parts of summer.

They aren’t particularly disease-resistant, though, so I’ve had the best luck keeping the plants thinned out and clearing the lower 12–18 inches of foliage so it doesn’t touch the soil.

State Fair 2026 was another wonderful year for the Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardener Container Garden Contest. As some...
08/19/2026

State Fair 2026 was another wonderful year for the Southeast Wisconsin Master Gardener Container Garden Contest. As some of you may know, I volunteer as a Wisconsin Master Gardener, and we were honored to have a container in the competition for the fourth year.

This year’s cedar tiered bowl planter was another original design and build by my husband, Adam. He has an incredible talent for turning my garden ideas into beautiful, functional pieces. He also builds custom woodworking projects for clients, bringing their ideas to life with the same care and craftsmanship.

Our container did not place in the top three this year, but the competition was full of creativity. Congratulations to the tied first place winners, the tiki planters, and to the second place pollinator garden arrangement.

It is always such a fun contest and a wonderful celebration of plants, creativity and garden design. We are already looking forward to next year!

If you have a woodworking project in mind, Adam would be happy to discuss a custom build.

08/10/2026

A beautiful day to explore the Wisconsin State Fair!

One of our favorite weeks of the year, the Fair is such a fun celebration of all the wonderful things that make Wisconsin special. From agriculture and livestock to flowers, food, art, and so much more, there’s always something new to discover.

One of my favorite stops is Grand Champion Hall, I love the Ikebana, bonsai, floral, and food competitions. As a gardener, horticulture educator, and botanical artist, I could spend so much time admiring all of the creativity and skill on display!

We also always enjoy wandering and relaxing in Exploratory Park. This year, they added a few “secret” paths filled with some really neat treasures, including a mossy dragon! How fun is that?

A perfect Wisconsin summer day filled with agriculture, creativity, nature, and a little bit of magic.

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